Recent picture display apparatus, of which a typical example is the television, includes more than one picture source, for example, a tuner and an optical disc drive. The apparatus divides the display screen into areas to display a plurality of pictures simultaneously. The apparatus allows the user to switch between a plurality of display modes (ex. a single and a double screen mode) by pressing a screen switching button on a remote controller or by like operation.
Switching between the single and double screen modes is easily done by, for example, pressing a “Double Screen” button. A problem rises, however, when three or more display modes (ex. a single, a double, and a quadruple screen mode) are involved: sequential switching among these modes using one button is troublesome.
To address the problem, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Tokukai) 2001-69369 (published Mar. 16, 2001) discloses a television receiver displaying a menu in response to a user pressing an “Easy Selection” button, the menu listing a plurality of modes from which a desired mode is selectable.
The method disclosed in the patent has problems that the user is not informed of the current function settings and has to go through complex steps to change the settings.
Specifically, the technology of Tokukai 2001-698369 shows the number of screens displayed next to each other. The user is not informed of the actual layout. This is not user-friendly when a large divided screen appears next to a small divided screen and when a web browser or similar picture of unbound aspect ratio is displayed.
Furthermore, if the divided screen or screens are resized following a change in the number of divided screens displayed next to each other, a divided screen resizing menu needs to be displayed after the selection of the number of divided screens so that the user can make selections about the resizing. This requires the user to make several inputs to switch between display modes, which makes the operation complicating.